Investing.com – Wall Street close lower on Friday as signs of progress on tax reform were offset by reports suggesting that Michael Flynn was prepared to testify against President Donald Trump as part of the investigation into Russian involvement during the presidential election.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower at 24,231.11. The S&P 500 closed 0.20% lower while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6847.59, down 0.38%.
Flynn is prepared to testify that President Donald Trump directed him to make contact with Russians when he was a presidential candidate, ABC News reported. Flynn was also reported to have said that he was directed by President Donald Trump to make contact with Russians.
The news report rocked markets as the major averages erased gains closing lower. Some of the losses were pared, however, as focused shifted to tax reform amid positive comments from Senator Mitch McConnel.
McConnel said on Friday morning that Republicans had the 50 votes they need to pass the tax bill.
On the economic front, investors digested a pair of mixed economic reports showing constructing spending rose, while manufacturing activity undershot expectations.
ISM manufacturing PMI for November cooled to 58.2 from 58.7 in October, missing expectations of a reading of 58.4, while construction spending for October rose 1.4%, well above economists’ forecast of 0.5%.
In corporate news, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) was reported to have held talks with third party drug makers including Mylan and Novartis as the e-commerce giant looks set to enter the pharmaceutical industry.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Apache Corp (NYSE:APA) up 2%, Mylan Inc (NASDAQ:MYL) up 0.8% and Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) up 1.1%
General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) down 2.2%, Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) down 2% and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) down 1.7%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.